This invention relates to baths and more particularly to whirlpool baths.
Many people, after working hard, can be refreshed by hydrotherapy treatment in a whirlpool bath. This refreshing aspect of the whirlpool bath is available to the sedentary person or the athletic person. The whirlpool bath treatment can calm a nervous person, ease the pain of aching muscles, and even sooth sore feet.
Because of these advantages of whirlpool baths, many commercial establishments such as saunas, spas, hotels, or motels are installing whirlpool baths in their rooms. The purpose of such installations is to achieve competitive edges. In order to maximize the competitive edge thus achieved, the whirlpool bath must be simple to install, to operate, and to service.
The current state of the art for installing a whirlpool bath in an existing bathroom requires removal of the old bathtub and installation of a new bathtub specifically designed for use as a whirlpool bath. Such installation requires extensive remodelling and other expense. Thus, the advantages of the whirlpool tend to be outweighed by the expense of installation.
Even if it were possible to install a whirlpool bath in an in-place tub, with the current state of the art the working conditions to achieve the desired structure for the whirlpool bath are too cramped to permit installation or an efficient operation. For this reason, the required outlets and water recirculation points must be installed in a bathtube before it is set in-place. This means, that the bathtub must be predetermined to be a whirlpool, or must be completely removed in order to install the desired whirlpool apparatus followed by subsequent reinstallation of the specially designed tub. Additionally, it is clear that such installing and reinstalling provides for a very complicated and expensive installation and mitigates against such installation on an in-place bathtub without a substantial remodeling and reworking of the bathroom.
Most of the functions of the whirlpool bath require the use of T-shaped fittings. It is these "T" fittings in the cramped quarters of the installed bathtubs which cause most of the difficulties in setting up an in-place bathtub as a whirlpool bath.
Another reason for the difficulty of installing a whirlpool in an in-place tub is the fact that the various outlets for feeding water into the tub and the recirculating tap for recirculating the water back to the pump must use a locknut to hold the apparatus in place. The locknut cannot be attached from the interior of the tub. In other words, efforts must be made to reach between the walls of the tub to hold the necessary inlet and outlet in position while the locknut is tightened. Such a procedure on an in-place bathtub is extremely difficult--if not impossible. These are the reasons removal of an in-place bathtub is necessary to permit the attachment of the standard whirlpool bath features.
Still, a further difficulty with the installation of whirlpool apparatus in a tub is that a porcelain tends to chip. Yet holes must be made in the tub to achieve the desired installation. It is extremely desireable to make those holes without otherwise chipping the tub.
If the tub is a fiberglass tub, holes cannot be tapped into the tub. It is desirable to find a method of mounting the whirlpool fitting therein.
As can be seen from the complications set forth in installing a whirlpool bath, it becomes clear that such an operation is both expensive and complicated. Due to the complexities and expense involved in this operation, it becomes difficult for the consumer to take advantage of the relaxing and helpful qualities of a whirlpool bath.
If a better method of installing whirlpool baths can be found which permits the installation of the whirlpool bath less expensively and more simply, great advantages can accrue by having a whirlpool bath which is such a valuable health apparatus, more available to more people--either commercially or at home.